Take Care
by gopippingo
Summary: Katie Bell thinks being the youngest of her 'group' is a bad thing. She's always the last one to do things, always the one who's treated like the baby. But sometimes, she realizes, being the baby is nice: you've always got someone looking out for you.


**Alright, so this is my first FanFic. I finally decided to stop being lazy and actually contribute to this glorious site, rather than just read every story out there. Not exactly sure where I want to go with this one... definitely not a oneshot but I don't know what direction it'll take.**

**For storyline purposes, some character's ages have been modified. Oliver is a 7th year, Fred, George, and Lee are 6th years, Alicia and Angelina are 5th years, and Katie is a 4th year.**

**Enjoy!**

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I woke up, quite literally, to the over excited squeals of my two "best friends". And yes, I put them in air quotes because they're acting much too immature and childish to be the best friends of a fourteen- sorry, fifteen year old.

Ah, who am I kidding: I love the attention. As soon as my eyes open they hug-tackle me, spouting exclamations and nonsense all over me.

"-told Leanne it was today-"

"-fifteen? Already? It seems-"

"-you just wait, I _know_ you'll love them-"

"-all grown up! Ohmygod, I remember-"

"ALRIGHT, I GET IT!" I bellowed, and thankfully they fell quiet. "Thanks, guys, but I have absolutely no idea what you're saying."

I leaned back on my pillows so I was sitting up. Angelina and Alicia were sitting on the edge of the bed, grinning like crazy, and I couldn't help but do the same. It was my fifteenth birthday, and it just so happened to fall on a Saturday this year- also a Hogsmeade day. My perfectly planned day started out perfectly with a perfect breakfast in bed- our tradition. And yes, I said perfect three times.

"For me?" I say as they hand me the tray. It's heaped with eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, heck, there's even pumpkin pie! How did I get this, you may ask? Let's just say being friends with some _certain Weasleys_ gets you more than just a weekly detention. Whenever it was someone in the gang's birthday they always managed to find something suitable.

A couple of the other girls in my dorm peek their heads around the curtains.

"Happy birthday, Katie." I smile and thank them. I'm not really close with the girls in my year. Friendly, yes, but not quite _friends_.

"Come on, Katie, we've got presents!" Alicia sings, and we troop down to the common room.

Oliver, Lee, Fred, and George are there, in a little circle by our favorite set of armchairs. Alicia and Angelina lead me over there, and I plop down in the biggest, softest one. Today's the only day I'm guaranteed it. There's sort of a daily battle between the seven of us to see who gets the coveted spot.

After the routine "Happy birthday"s we get down to the fun stuff: the gifts.

Fred and George have, unsurprisingly, given me a batch of their newest joke... things. I honestly don't even know what half of the stuff in the box is. I'll bet my life on it, those boys will give Zonko's a run for their money one day.

Lee's present, although pretty funny, was a little disturbing. It was a gray tank top and shorts (_short_ shorts, may I add), with the words "One Hot Mama" printed across the front.

"I'll have you know, Lee, that these will never be used as anything more than pajamas. Which means you'll never see me in them."

"Awww," he whined, and we all laughed.

Lish got me some new clothes (no surprises there) and Ange a large supply of Honeydukes' sweets and goodies.

Oliver's present, though, I think may have topped the rest.

"Oliver..." I gasped.

Wrapped up in gold and red paper (Gryffindor til the end!) was a brand new copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_. And I know there's nothing special about that. I mean, it's the most popular book in all of Wizarding Britain. Probably the whole Wizarding World. But it had a thin white ribbon as a bookmarker sewn into the spine, which meant it was special edition, which meant...

I opened up the front cover, and sure enough there was _Kennilworhty Whisp _signed in black ink.

I look up at him. "Thank you so much! Where the heck did you get this?" He just smiles knowingly and shrugs. I rolled my eyes but stood up to hug him nonetheless.

"Um, excuse me? Hot Mama, I want some of that too." Lee's standing there with his arms crossed and hip jutted out to the side. I laugh and thank everyone; and yes, Lee does get a birthday hug.

"Okay, well the girls and I have some _important _business to attend to," Alicia looks and Ange and giggles, "so we're going to borrow the birthday girl for, I don't know, a couple hours?"

"A couple hours?" Asks George, raising his eyebrows. "What could possibly take that long up in her dorm?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure, maybe a mani-pedi-facial-hairwash-hairstyle-makeover-outfitchoosing party?" Alicia says this all as one big, long, torturous word as I groan inwardly.

"And why does Katie need that, exactly?" asks Fred.

"Because she has her Hogsmeade DATE!" shouts Angelina, Alicia, and Lee simultaneously. Oliver shoots Lee a strange look while Fred mockingly slaps himself on the the forehead.

"Of course, how could I have forgotten with you obsessing over it for the past three weeks?"

There's a little more banter and the girls drag me off to their dorm for our "party". The rest of the Gryffindor fifth year girls are already down in the village, so they have the run of the place. After much arguing, we finally reached a compromise: no mani-pedi, no lace or sequins, and no new hairstyles. Even so, their hour-and-a-half makeover left me exhausted and feeling like a freshly plucked bird.

"I'm ready, I guess," I called as I entered the common room. The boys are in the midst of what seems like a very... we'll say _intense_ game of Exploding Snap. Oliver is just finishing scraping away the soot on the table when George sees me over his shoulder.

He falls forward out of his chair and onto his knees.

"Her Ladyship!" He cries, and mockingly bows down. This of course directs the entire common room's attention to him, and then to me.

I stand there uncomfortably between Alicia and Angelina until they drag me over to the table by my arms.

"Doesn't she just look _adorable_!" Gushes Alicia, and Fred and George bob their heads in agreement, commenting lavishly on my "stylish clothing" and "snazzy hair".

I'm really not that done up. Just slightly cleaner, shinier, and nicer-looking than usual. My friends, as usual, have gotten off on some quidditch-related tangent, and I have to cough quite loudly a few times before they seem to remember that I'm there.

"So, I think I'll be going now. I said I'd meet Jackson in the Great Hall." Ange and Alicia stand back one last time, as if to admire their handiwork, before pulling me into one last bear hug.

"Have fun! And happy birthday! And remember, if he so much as lays a _finger_ on anything other than your hand-"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" I yell, diving out of the common room. God, they could be overprotective. But it was still sweet. I guess.

I made my way down the spiral staircase, towards the Great Hall, my heart beating with excitement.

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**So... that was chapter 1. I want the story to be centered around the whole group, with Katie as the lead, but I don't want it to be about just a couple of people. It will NOT want it to be a Katie/Oliver romance (although I do love those), but rather would like to ****emphasize their big brother/little sister relationship, as well as with Fred, George and Lee.**

**All ideas, reviews, criticism, and thoughts welcome!**


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